1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and image forming method. More specifically, the present invention relates an image forming apparatus by which an image is formed by developing a latent image formed on a photosensitive body using a liquid developer containing a toner and a carrier, transferring the developer onto a medium such as a recording sheet, and fusing and fixing a toner image on the transferred medium.
2. Related Art
Various wet type image forming apparatuses are currently known in the art in which a latent image is developed using a high-viscosity liquid developer obtained by dispersing a toner containing solid elements in a liquid solvent. Using this process, an electrostatic latent image is made visible. The developer used in such a wet type image forming apparatus is obtained by suspending solid contents or toner particles in a high-viscosity organic solvent or carrier liquid which is made of silicon oil, mineral oil, cooking oil, or the like, which has an electric insulation property. The toner particles have a diameter of about 1 μm which is significantly small. Since the wet type image forming apparatus uses such small toner particles, it can provide a higher quality image in comparison to a dry type image forming apparatus which uses powder toner particles having a diameter of about 7 μm.
One example of an image forming apparatus currently known in the art is Japanese Patent Document JP-A-2002-156839, which includes an image forming device which forms an electrostatic latent image on an image carrier, a developing device which develops the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier using a liquid developer obtained by dispersing developer particles in a solvent to make the image visible, an intermediate transfer medium which abuts on the image carrier to transfer the visible image on the image carrier thereto, a transfer device which has a backup member that abuts the intermediate transfer medium and transfers the visible image on the intermediate transfer medium to the transfer target body, a determination device which determines the type of transfer target body, and a control device which variably controls a pressure force applied to the transfer target body by the backup member depending on the type of the transfer target body.
One problem with the backup member of the configuration described in '839, however, is that when a grooved portion is provided in the backup member of the image forming apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2002-156839 such that a transfer material gripping mechanism for gripping the transfer material may be disposed in the grooved portion, the pressing member does not provide a sufficient force when the grooved portion and the intermediate transfer medium face each other.
In print industries, a so-called bearer which is an abutting member having a concentric circle has been used to control an abutting position between rollers (e.g., see JP-A-2000-33686). When the transfer is performed in this way, the distance between rollers is controlled by positions of each bearer. One problem with this configuration, however, is that there is a problem when a transfer material such as paper has different thicknesses, and the transfer pressure is accordingly changed, and thereby, the transfer may become unstable.